In today's marketplace, many of the newer-generation convergence products (e.g., camera phones, all-in-one personal digital assistants) offer consumers product performance that rivals dedicated versions. With the increased availability of options, consumers now face another dilemma in their purchase consideration: Which product form should they choose—converged, dedicated, or both? This study investigates the choice patterns for product forms along the technology trajectories. In a series of four studies, the authors find that at low levels of technological performance, consumers overwhelmingly select convergence products over the dedicated options, whereas the choice pattern is reversed at high levels of technological performance. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that a preannouncement of future technology can affect consumer preferences for product forms. Finally, they address the managerial implications and suggest directions for further research.
In today's marketplace, many of the newer-generation convergence products (e.g., camera phones, all-in-one personal digital assistants) offer consumers product performance that rivals dedicated versions. With the increased availability of options, consumers now face another dilemma in their purchase consideration: Which product form should they choose-converged, dedicated, or both? This study investigates the choice patterns for product forms along the technology trajectories. In a series of four studies, the authors find that at low levels of technological performance, consumers overwhelmingly select convergence products over the dedicated options, whereas the choice pattern is reversed at high levels of technological performance. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that a preannouncement of future technology can affect consumer preferences for product forms. Finally, they address the managerial implications and suggest directions for further research.
Engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly common business practice globally and across industries. By contributing to societal welfare, firms can also enhance their corporate image among its stakeholders -in particular, its customers. For CSR to generate goodwill, consumers generally need to perceive a fit between the sponsoring firm and its CSR. Otherwise, consumers may second-guess the firm's intrinsic CSR motives, which may even evoke a negative reaction. In practice, however, many firms today engage in CSR activities that cover a wide spectrum of perceived fit. To this end, this research explores communication strategies (elaborational vs relational) that help elevate the perceived fit between the sponsoring firm and its CSR activity at high vs low levels. Specifically, we find elaborational communication strategy (which focuses on the merits of CSR activity per se and not on the association with the firm) to be more effective for the low-fit case, whereas relational communication strategy (which highlights the association between the company and CSR) was more effective for the high-fit case.
Despite many convergence products rapidly approaching market saturation, academic research yet lags behind with the focus still on the primary demand in the introduction stage. The authors close this gap by focusing on how the labeling of convergence products may impact on value perception and upgrade intentions for these products. Convergence products, which combine multiple categories of products into a single device, create a unique naming dilemma for manufacturers and retailers: Whether to opt for (a) a subordinate label-a lower-level descriptor or name that embodies its subcategory elements (e.g., smartphone or Apple's iPhone) or (b) a superordinate label-a higher-level descriptor or name which transcends its subcategories (e.g., multifunctional device or Samsung's Galaxy). The authors investigate the effects of labeling choices (i.e., subordinate vs. superordinate) on consumer value perception and upgrade intention. Results of four studies demonstrate that the labeling options exert differential effects on perceived value and upgrade intention, while the use of subordinate (vs. superordinate) label lowers the present perceived value, it raises consumer's intention to upgrade to a newergeneration product. K E Y W O R D S convergence product, intrinsic motivation, subordinate label, superordinate label, willingness-topay, willingness-to-upgrade Psychol Mark. 2018;35:913-922. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mar
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